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Re: Obama Seeks to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Plan

This is supposed to be the exact wording of the poll. Not anything like what you've suggested. I believe that you are very mistaken on what happens during polling.

I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you are not playing dumb on purpose. The wording the poll doesn't say anything about to whom these questions were asked. Let's just assume this is an average cross section of people. Given that the people who we are talking about being taxed are a very small minority in this country (Remember, these are the 2% or some ridiculously small number whom everyone claims has all the wealth) then the vast majority of the people being asked the question are not the one's being taxed.

Re: Obama Seeks to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Plan

Originally Posted by jambalaya

I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt that you are not playing dumb on purpose. The wording the poll doesn't say anything about to whom these questions were asked. Let's just assume this is an average cross section of people. Given that the people who we are talking about being taxed are a very small minority in this country (Remember, these are the 2% or some ridiculously small number whom everyone claims has all the wealth) then the vast majority of the people being asked the question are not the one's being taxed.

The nation as a whole should not suffer because 2% of the population does not want to pay 5% more in taxes. This should be common sense.

Tax revenue as a % of GDP needs to increase: fact or fiction?

It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion."Wealth of Nations," Book V, Chapter II, Part II, Article I, pg.911

Re: Obama Seeks to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Plan

Originally Posted by Grant

So the US President is eliminating oil subsidies while simultaneously doing whatever he can to make sure that the American people have less access to the energy they need to keep the country running, and more jobs will be lost and costs eventually passed on to the consumer.

Barrack Obama is either seriously stupid or intent on destroying the US economy. There is absolutely nothing in his policies any rational person can defend.

So, we should not ask of corporations what we ask of others as they need special help, they need our money, our tax support, and cannot be seen as capable of carrying their fair load. And we should never be cncerned about anything that might be harmful?

I think you reach the wrong conclusions. From your link:

Whatever the outcome, industry is learning from the delays, the anger, the-zero tolerance for accidents, he says. It’s learning that the public has the right to be assured that infrastructure is safe and responsibly built and that projects will be battlegrounds for broader issues.

“The legitimate issues are public safety, reliability, environmental protection,” Mr. Girling said. “And so we had to up our game to improve on all of those fronts. Certainly the incidents that have occurred over the last year would suggest that there is room for improvement, and as an industry we are working to improve on all those fronts.”

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE:I think the world vests too much power, certainly in the president, probably in Washington in general for its influence on the economy, because most all of the economy has nothing to do with the government.

Re: Obama Seeks to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Plan

Originally Posted by Boo Radley

So, we should not ask of corporations what we ask of others as they need special help, they need our money, our tax support, and cannot be seen as capable of carrying their fair load. And we should never be cncerned about anything that might be harmful?

I think you reach the wrong conclusions. From your link:

Whatever the outcome, industry is learning from the delays, the anger, the-zero tolerance for accidents, he says. It’s learning that the public has the right to be assured that infrastructure is safe and responsibly built and that projects will be battlegrounds for broader issues.

“The legitimate issues are public safety, reliability, environmental protection,” Mr. Girling said. “And so we had to up our game to improve on all of those fronts. Certainly the incidents that have occurred over the last year would suggest that there is room for improvement, and as an industry we are working to improve on all those fronts.”

My sense is that the honest answer is that many support comprehensive corporate tax reform. Get rid of a bunch of deductions and then lower rates to make the US more competitive. The reason everyone says that they want this but it never happens is that what is a giveaway to certain people is essential to another group.

Do we need to allow corporations to deduct the cost of tickets to sporting events so that millionaire ballplayers and billionaire owners can charge hundreds of dollars to a ballgame. Should we give R&D tax credits to companies that then send the manufacturing to China. The reason the tax code is thousands of pages is because of all of the special deals that have been allowed into law over many years.

Clean up the whole thing, raise revenues, enhance growth. Stop with the scapgoating.

Re: Obama Seeks to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Plan

Originally Posted by jambalaya

I don't disagree that some tax increases are in order.

Nor do i disagree that many tax cuts are in order; timing is the essence of everything.

It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expense, not only in proportion to their revenue, but something more than in that proportion."Wealth of Nations," Book V, Chapter II, Part II, Article I, pg.911

Re: Obama Seeks to End Tax Breaks to Pay for Jobs Plan

Originally Posted by washunut

My sense is that the honest answer is that many support comprehensive corporate tax reform. Get rid of a bunch of deductions and then lower rates to make the US more competitive. The reason everyone says that they want this but it never happens is that what is a giveaway to certain people is essential to another group.

Do we need to allow corporations to deduct the cost of tickets to sporting events so that millionaire ballplayers and billionaire owners can charge hundreds of dollars to a ballgame. Should we give R&D tax credits to companies that then send the manufacturing to China. The reason the tax code is thousands of pages is because of all of the special deals that have been allowed into law over many years.

Clean up the whole thing, raise revenues, enhance growth. Stop with the scapgoating.

I'm not entirely in disagreement with you. I don't think taxes play that large a role in growth, and that even if there were no taxes at all, business would still be leaving, largely because we can't compete with low wages and lack of health compensation and benefits. But that's another issue.

However, I think step one would be to clean it up. Remove the breaks and loopholes, and then reassess. I would support that.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE:I think the world vests too much power, certainly in the president, probably in Washington in general for its influence on the economy, because most all of the economy has nothing to do with the government.